Pi Girl

Amber made a quickie trip down to DC to pick out bridesmaid dresses for her wedding and I decided to hop on board because a) she’s my best friend, b) it was my bridesmaidly duty to help pick out the perfect Amber colors and c) while I love online shopping, I’m too control-freaky to let my dress decision be left up to a skinny model in cyberspace.

And this trip will forever be engrained in our memories for several reasons. Among them:

- Who knew Rolling Thunder would be in town this weekend? They’ve only been coming to DC for 20 years now. I must say, I have never seen so many bikes in my life. I believe the WTOP reporter said it best when he said there were “thousands upon thousands upon thousands” of bikes in the area. And they were everywhere. And they closed all the streets we needed to be on to get from Virginia to DC and/or Laurel, MD. At one point, we ended up on the soon-to-be parade route because all the bikes were lined up with their owners on the sidewalks behind them to enjoy the festivities.

- Zoe, the dog. She’s a bit of a drama queen, kind of a mini-Kelsey, if you will. She loved to jump from lap to lap, looking for a kind soul to pet her until they got hand cramps. Well, I was enjoying a glass of wine when Zoe decided it was my turn to pet her. And she made a flying leap into my lap and smack into my glass. Wine and glass bits went everywhere. It was a bit messy for a while, but Zoe licked up the wine from her fur and I got cleaned up. I have to admire a dog with such a tiny head that can break glass in mid-air like that.

- Other than that, it was your typical road trip. We stocked up at Trader Joe’s, which left the fully packed car sardine-packed. Some people tried to run into us, we returned the favor. There was that loose dog running rampant on I-83 that stopped traffic. And that gigantic thunderstorm. Oh, and the bizarre rest stop in Pennsylvania with the crazy people and the power hand dryer.

Ladies, did I miss anything?

I think, work-wise, this is my favorite weekend of the year. Of course, I say that completely ignoring that flat tire incident 2 years ago and the bat in the house from last year. But, hey, free gourmet lunch and drinks plus reducing the workload from years past will always make me very happy that it’s LPGA Corning Classic time.

It was the perfect day to sip on a gin and tonic (or two) and watch the golfing action from the terrace where there was a gentle breeze to make you forget that all the people down below were dealing with 87 degree heat. And yes, Mom, I wore sunscreen.

I didn’t get to see Porn Girl golf and I didn’t see her anywhere in the top 10. But it’s still Friday; anything could happen. No, it seems this year the one everyone wants to see win is Paula Creamer. She had a huge following around the course and her family is all here, cheering her on. Corning loves it when the families come out; golfers’ moms are treated like royalty when they come to watch their daughters on the course. And it’s even better when the family is local-ish (Ithaca, plus her dad is from Liverpool, NY).

I didn’t get to stay very long or walk around much but as always, there was interesting people watching. And I got permission from Jason’s boss to let him wear shorts while he’s working the course. Except Jason doesn’t own any non-jean shorts, so I think I’m going to pick some up for him so he’ll at least be a tiny bit more comfortable lugging all that camera equipment around.

I had quite the exciting weekend. All of them really should get their own blog entry, but I’m lazy like that. Oh, and my camera really sucks, so it’s not worth it to make a whole photo gallery of Jim’s graduation, so I’m just sticking all 4 of the good photos in here; click on the photo to see it enlarged.

Friday - Relay for Life

When I heard the Star-Gazette was sending a team to the Relay for Life I was totally on board, until I realized this weekend was way too packed me to spend all night at the First Arena. What can I say? I’ve never been able to stay up all night easily and that was with the whole next day to rest. So then I heard the S-G was also setting up a table to sell hot dogs and pizza to raise money, so I volunteered to man the table for a few hours. Which really turned into 1.5 hours because I went by myself and I’m not a fan of walking through parking garages at night by myself.

So, I figured I would just sit at a table bored. But it was so not boring at all. And I kind of wished I had been able to spend more time there. For one thing, it was quite crowded. That’s always inspiring, considering every single person there had a cancer story to tell either for themselves or a loved one. And all of these people had colorful shirts and team names and set up team stations that were just as colorful. I was most amused by the walking colon, which I thought was a heart and Jason thought was a stomach. Lots of things to do and see while you walked in a giant circle.

The other thing that was nice was that they mapped out the course so it wasn’t just in the arena, which would get real old, real fast. Instead you walked through the arena and then all around the outside too. We were all curious to know how long the trek was. So, Dawn counted her steps during a rotation and helped. She counted 430 steps at roughly 2 feet per stride. Which works out to 860 feet and roughly 6.14 laps in a mile. However, since there were sometimes when she thought her stride was longer, we rounded it down to 6 laps in a mile. In case you wanted to know.

Saturday - Jim’s graduation from OCC!

Can I just say that I am so super proud of my awesome brother, Jim Cassidy? It’s been quite the journey, but Jimmy made it! He graduated from Onondaga Community College with an Associate’s Degree, cum laude even. He was so cute in his robe and gold cord. The photos are so bad, but we had a nice view of Jim from where we were sitting. Even if our fellow audience members left a lot to be desired.

Really, it was your typical graduation ceremony where the only thing you’re really interested in is seeing your loved one cross the stage and get his diploma. You know, boring speeches, bad audio moments, and watching 400 kids who you don’t know cross the stage. But hey, there were bagpipes!

They announced that we should hold all applause until all the graduates walked the stage, but you know that’s not going to happen. So the pockets of audience members got bolder as more when across the stage and you could see it was really ok to “woo!” your graduate. However, Jimmy was in the second row. So we weren’t all that vocal; I was the only one brave enough to woo.

Sunday - Jana Losey concert

I had the privilege to be invited to a special house concert for Jana Losey. That’s because her father works for the Star-Gazette and is friends with Michelle and Jason. And me, now. I just don’t get to see him all that often. Al likes to hold house concerts for Jana and this time all his S-G friends were invited.

Jana is based out of Ithaca, but her family lives in a big farmhouse in Lawrenceville, PA, which is where the concert was. She’s gotten a lot of love from the area, but she’s spent the last few months travelling around the States.

I was not familiar with her work, but I figured I would like it. And I was right. She is awesome. Both as a singer/songwriter and as a person. And she tells really good stories. She also has some interesting friends who tell really good stories. Anyway, I bought her cd and got on the mailing list so that I might be invited to more house concerts. But if you see Jana Losey coming to a venue near you, go see her!

Those were the words of wisdom from the coach of the Ithaca boys’ lacrosse team. Jason’s car wasn’t working right so I joined him at the Horseheads v Ithaca game where he was shooting photos. I had to watch a whole quarter of the game, and I say that with every ounce of “I hate sports” attitude possible. I got so bored, I just started taking photos with my cell phone of Jason taking photos of the game.

Because of where Jason was shooting, we ended up next to the Ithaca cheering section, even though it was at Horseheads High School. So, it was interesting to hear their assessment of the game. My favorite part was when they were telling Cody what to do throughout the game, and then finally, we heard the coach yelling at him from across the field. I couldn’t hear the kid, but all we heard was, “I don’t care. I coach, you do!” Which cracked everyone up.

My first thought was, that man works way too much with teenagers. My second thought was, he’s probably a parent. Then, I realized all the Ithaca cheering section was parents. Who else would drive 30 minutes to watch a lacrosse game?

That’s when it hit me: someday I might have a kid who may very well inherit the Cassidy/Schug athlete skills and I might be forced to have to watch countless numbers of sports and games and matches. I wonder if it’s possible to make one of those test tube babies where I get to decide what kind of skills and talents they get. In which case, I’m so ordering a nerd with artistic abilities.

I haven’t really gotten into the whole campaign ‘08 thing. Sure, it’s on the Daily Show every night and I most certainly can’t wait to get George out of office. But it’s a little soon for me to be thinking about who to vote for. The primary is a good 9 months away for crying out loud. But I do admire how the candidates will do anything for the right vote.

Take Hillary, for example. Say what you will about her, she’s getting out and youtubing her way to America’s hearts. For the record, I completely support her and am 75% sure I’ll vote for her but even if you don’t, you have to admit, this is hilarious.

Hillary rocks the casbah. Ooh, maybe that could be her campaign song!

I’m feeling kind of guilty that I was a blogging maniac last week and this week, I got nothing. So, ooh look, it’s another personality quiz. I promise to try to be more interesting in the future.

Ooh, it’s another iTunes shuffle quiz. I can’t resist!

Directions: use the shuffle function on your music player and see what you come up with in answer to the following questions.

How does the world see you?
Paradise - Bruce Springsteen

Will I have a happy life?
Got a Life - Korn

What do my friends really think of me?
Go-Go Gadget Gospel - Gnarls Barkley

Do people secretly lust after me?
Carrion - Fiona Apple

How can I make myself happy?
Yes it is - Beatles

What should I do with my life?
Do it to Me - Usher

Will I ever have children?
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers

What is some good advice for me?
Sing, Sing, Sing - Max Q

How will I be remembered?
32 Flavors - Ani Difranco

What is my signature dancing song?
Summertime Blues - Blue Cheer (who? How did this get in my iTunes???)

What do I think my current theme song is?
Marching Bands of Manhatten - Death Cab for Cutie

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Jack-Ass - Beck (ha!)

What song will play at my funeral?
Lies - Violent Femmes (now that would be hilarious!)

What type of men/women do you like?
Invincible - Ok Go

What is my day going to be like?
Off and On - Sons of Pitches

Go Friday. I know I could use a restful weekend. Although now that the screens have been put up, the cat knows no rest and will probably bug me every waking (and sleeping) minute.

If you’re not tired of me talking about contest, the Star-Gazette let me write a column about it. Yeah, I totally wrote a headline for 40 people - ha!

And on a completely random note, I’ve seen this clip from the Daily Show 5 times already and it gets funnier every time. Demetri Martin rocks. I need to get me one of those video resumes.

My lunch hours are getting weirder and weirder this week. I came back to the office from lunch today and noticed a large gathering of people outside M&M’s, the hot dog place across the street from the Star-Gazette. They were fairly well-dressed, well, except for one guy in a Hawaiian shirt.

I saw Jason leaving the group so I figured it was a news story. Only when I went inside work, noone knew what was going on. So, I called Jason. Apparently, all those people were gathered for a wake. They were at M&M’s because the guy who died really liked the hot dogs. And yes, the hot dogs there are really good, but seriously?

So, I poked around our archives a bit and found the Star-Gazette ran stories on 2 different ex-Elmirans in the last week who died who were known for their love of M&M’s hot dogs. Which leaves me wondering … was the wake today for one of those guys or someone else completely?

lunch hour, phone rings

Me: Hello.

Jason: I just thought you should know, the building (the Star-Gazette) has been evacuated.

Me: What?! What’s going on? Do I need to meet the OC somewhere? Did we post breaking news?

Jason: No, we’re just waiting outside right now. I imagine it’s because the fire alarm went off.

Me: That’s it?

Jason: Well, now Mark’s complaining about having to climb a ladder.

Me: Oh man, I thought it was something serious.

Jason: Oh no, but noone’s getting any work done so I thought you might want to know.

Me: So, I can take my time coming back to work?

Jason: Yeah, that’s all.